Early Childhood MOCA Practice

As a kindergarten teacher observes the class during the first few weeks of school, the teacher notices differences in the students' behaviors. One student prefers to work alone, while another enjoys working with a friend or in a small group. A third student is most interested in the mathematics center, while a fourth is constantly moving and gesturing. The teacher is witnessing behavior that illustrates the learning theories of:

• Erik Erikson

• E.D. Hirsch

• Abraham Maslow

• Howard Gardner

In his developmental theories, Jean Piaget sought to explain which of the following?

• how internal needs, desires, and conflicts interact to influence personality development

• how maturation, activity, and interpersonal experiences interact to influence cognitive development

• how caregiver responsiveness influences social and emotional development

• how guidance from knowledgeable others influences intellectual development

Which of the following informal assessment tools would be most useful for documenting a preschool child's ability to perform specific skills?

• An Interview

• A running record

• A worksheet

• A rating scale

Which of the following would be a second-grade teacher's best strategy for promoting all students' sense of competence and motivation to learn?

• emphasizing homogeneous grouping to minimize comparisons between students who perform at different levels

• offering praise for the completion of work regardless of a student's level of effort or the quality of the final product

• differentiating instruction to present each student with tasks that can be achieved with persistence

• creating frequent opportunities for friendly competitions such as spelling bees and math bees

Four-year-old Kima draws a picture of a girl. She then writes the letter K all around the edges of the paper, remarking, "This is my name. It says Kima." This behavior suggests that Kima has attained some understanding of:

• The student has knowledge of the alphabetic principle.

• The student has some understanding of concepts about print.

• The student is beginning to build a sight-word vocabulary.

• The student is beginning to develop phonemic awareness.

In a class of three year olds, which of the following would be the teacher's best strategy for fostering the development of the fine-motor skills prerequisite for writing?

• providing children with thick pencils to use to trace the outlines of letters and shapes

• engaging children in art activities such as fingerpainting and making prints of their hands in plaster

• involving children in singing activities in which they clap the rhythms of the songs

• engaging children in activities such as doing fingerplays and playing with interlocking blocks and beads

A four-year-old preschooler demonstrates minor delays in motor skills development. Teachers can best promote improvement in the child's motor abilities by using which of the following approaches?

• defining a set of motor skills goals toward which the child will work using a programmed daily sequence of motor activities

• arranging to have the child spend time each day working one-to-one with a teacher or other staff member on motor skills exercises

• pairing the child with a classmate with strong motor abilities who can serve as a model during motor activities

• encouraging the child to take advantage of opportunities in the preschool environment to engage in enjoyable motor activities

In terms of student safety, which of the following features of a school playground should a kindergarten teacher be most concerned about?

• The surface below the climbing structure consists of packed earth.

• The platform at the top of the slide is five feet high.

• The playing area includes a blacktop made of asphalt.

• The swings do not provide back support or seat belts.

A small group of six-year-olds is listening as their teacher reads a story about two rabbits who are having a party. An illustration shows the two rabbits just sitting down to a plate of 10 cookies when a third rabbit walks in. Which of the following would be the teacher's best strategy for integrating mathematical content into this reading activity?

• asking if the children can think of a way for the rabbits to share the cookies equally

• asking the children how many cookies would be left if one were taken away

• asking the children to count how many cookies the rabbits have altogether

• asking if any of the children can explain the difference between even numbers and odd numbers

Which of the following animals is classified as a vertebrate?

• Earthworm

• Jellyfish

• Hummingbird

• Butterfly